


A Mother's Love

by lrhaboggle



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Wicked - All Media Types
Genre: Auradon, Crossover, Disney, Evil, Failing relationship, Hate, Love, Magic, Musical, Oz - Freeform, Princess - Freeform, Wicked - Freeform, Witch - Freeform, daughter - Freeform, mother - Freeform, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-04-19 17:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14242041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lrhaboggle/pseuds/lrhaboggle
Summary: Maleficent wanted to love Mal, but love was weak and weakness got you killed. Maleficent didn't want Mal to die. But what happened? What happened to Maleficent that left her terrified enough to refuse to love her own daughter?





	1. Part I

Glinda Upland enjoyed a privileged life in Oz until the day she was forced to be roommates with one Elphaba Thropp. At first, the humiliation of bunking with a green-skinned girl drove Glinda to bully Elphaba constantly and deny them any chance at peace, but as their college life rolled on, both of the girls warmed up to each other and they became best friends. This friendship carried on even after Elphaba fled the school to start a rebellion against Oz's corrupt leader: the Wonderful Wizard. Unfortunately, the friendship fell in a sticky spot after Glinda ended up working for the Wizard himself, but not a day passed that Glinda didn't miss her green-skinned best friend.

At last, the pair was reunited, but the sweet reunion didn't last more than a few minutes. Elphaba had been sentenced to death by the Wizard and those carrying out the sentence were at the door. Naturally, Glinda didn't want Elphaba to die, but Elphaba insisted that this was the only way for any change to start and if Glinda tried to interfere, she'd only be killed for betrayal.

"If you want to do some real good, stay alive," Elphaba instructed Glinda as the poor blond wept into her shoulder. "Spread the word of equality and never forget that because I knew you, I have been changed for good," she added before kissing Glinda's cheek. Then she had vanished without another word. The last thing Glinda heard of the "wicked witch" was a dying scream as she was melted alive by water, water that had been thrown on her one by of those who were sent to kill her. The scream haunted Glinda years in the future, even after she'd exiled the Wizard, taken over Oz herself, and lifted the racist Animal Bans set by the Wizard in the first place.

"Elphie!" Queen Glinda the Good of Oz woke up with a start one night, crying out the name of her late best friend. The poor blond was deeply unhappy to learn that the hope of seeing her old best friend again had been no more than a cruel lie wrapped in a beautiful dream. "Ugh! It's been years and she still haunts me!" she cried. The young queen got to her feet, too miserable and awake to go back to bed.

Glinda paced her room for half an hour before her blue-eyed gaze settled upon an evil old spell book that hid under her bed. Elphaba had given it to her after stealing it from the Wizard years ago and had asked Glinda to use the book for good instead of evil. It was a weighty task and Glinda was scared. She was scared of botching a spell and destroying all of Oz because of that and she was afraid that the power of the spell book would go to her head and she would become everything she feared, everything Elphaba had fought so hard against. Because of that, as soon as she returned to the castle following Elphaba's execution, she hid the thing under her bed and never touched it again. But now though, a few years later, it almost seemed to be calling her and as hard as she tried to look away, she found her eyes roving back to it all the time.

"Oh Elphie," Glinda sighed sadly, staring at the old book again. "If only you were here…" the blond trailed off, lost in thought. Then suddenly, it hit her. Maybe that spell book, the Grimmerie, had a spell to resurrect Elphaba. Glinda knew she was dabbling in some seriously deadly art, but the hope of seeing Elphaba again overrode Glinda's fear. She bent down and practically yanked the book from under her bed. The thing was covered in a giant layer of dust but she didn't care, shaking all of it off with one impatient flick of the wrist. She threw the thing on the bed and began skimming through it, hoping that it would somehow know what she wanted…

A few minutes later, Glinda found something. It really had been like the book could read her mind! Now, Glinda could hardly make out the print because it was all in a language she didn't know, but somehow she knew it was a resurrection spell. This would return Elphaba to her! Another flash of worry filled the young queen's heart, but she dismissed it. She shoved aside all of her fears and inhibitions.

"This can bring back my Elphie!" she told herself. "I'll save her and everything will be ok again! I'm not doing this for wickedness after all!" but that didn't matter. Necromagic was always the most dangerous and loathed of all magic types. Glinda was untrained in that art as well. She only used a wand for basic charms. She was not a girl who used curses from a tome. For that, it was a small wonder that Glinda would pay for her crimes, no matter how well-meant they were.

A month after discovering the resurrection spell, Glinda was finally ready to perform it herself. Practicing had been terribly hard, but she knew that she would finally be able to do it right this time. She waited until midnight to begin the chant, but the moment she began to wave her arms and conjure the spell, time seemed to stop and she got lost in the magic. She got so lost in the magic, in fact, that it wasn't until several servants of the Ozian palace started screaming that Glinda realized she'd been caught.

"Look! Queen Glinda is trying to summon the Wicked Witch of the West!" the servants cried.

"What?! No! I swear this isn't what it looks like!" Glinda begged, but it was too late. Guards began materializing and Glinda was trapped. She quickly turned back to her spell book, trying to finish her interrupted incantation. Alas, it was too late. Trying to restart a spell in the middle of its process never worked. Besides, Glinda was already stressed out from being caught. For that, the spell easily went awry and Glinda screamed in pain as she felt something tearing up from her skull.

"Horns!" one of the guards cried. "She's the Devil!" and the others cowed in fear while Glinda reached up to feel what had happened. Yup, horns. Two, big, black, twisty, pointy horns had pierced straight through her head and her golden curls.

Glinda and the guards were so stunned by it that they all froze up entirely, only able to stare. What finally set everything back in motion was one particularly small servant girl. She dashed into Glinda's bedroom and slid across the floor, scooping up the book before running right back out of the room. Such a sudden attack aroused Glinda and she screamed out in anger before peeling after the child.

"Hey! Bring that back!" she cried as she snapped out of her trance. She ran as fast as she could and she did ultimately reclaim the Grimmerie, but it was still too late. The child had torn out the pages of the book that contained the resurrection spell. She managed to yank her way out of Glinda's arms and to the nearest fireplace, not hesitating as she tossed the wicked papers into the green flames.

"NOOO!" Glinda howled when she realized what happened. She ran over to the fireplace but it was too late, the pages had practically combusted the moment the dancing green tendrils touched them. The furious woman whipped around to face the child but she had already gone running away and before Glinda could even attempt to find her again, the guards finally caught up with her and Glinda was forced to run for her life.

For a whole week, Glinda was forced to literally hide in the castle walls, escaping into a secret passage and spending those seven days jumping from passage to passage in order to save her life. It was a rough time for the poor queen and it was really hard to sneak out to grab necessary supplies. Ultimately, this new lifestyle demanded a makeover and it was not a makeover Glinda enjoyed. First, Glinda ditched her beautiful blue bubble gown for a ratty old black cloak laced with purple. It blended in well with the dark. Next, Glinda shaved off her gold locks. It hurt her heart to watch the beautiful curls fall to the floor, but they were too bright. Instead, Glinda used some more of that dark cloth to make a hood for her bald head and horns. Then, she managed to sneak out and grab her wand, using the Grimmerie one last time in order to change its appearance. The wand, like Glinda's bubble dress, had simply been too showy to be suited to a life in the shadows. Her wand was a human-sized silver staff, topped with a glittering diamond star. After the transformation spell, however, became a long and gnarled tree branch. It was wooden and rugged and rough, but it would keep Glinda from being discovered. At point, too, Glinda realized that her eyes were no longer a nice sky blue. Instead, they were an ugly green. And it wasn't even Elphaba-green. It was more like a putrid Emerald-green. Oz, Glinda was sick of emeralds! And to think, this massive physical change had all occurred in one mere week! She looked nothing like the sweet queen she used to be…

"All I meant to do was save Elphie!" Glinda mumbled sadly as she stared at her reflection. "Was that so wrong?" apparently so.

But despite her best efforts, Glinda was finally caught. She had just pulled off another successful raid of the kitchens and was just about to return to her hidey-hole to eat when her horns got stuck in the doorway.

"Stupid, stupid horns!" she cried softly, setting her plate down as best she could before she tried to twist her head and escape her predicament. She was almost out, too, when a young squire saw her standing there in the doorway. His eyes bugged out of his head and it didn't take him two seconds to raise the alarm.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Glinda exclaimed angrily. She had not seen the squire, him approaching her from behind, but she heard his screaming and she knew exactly what was coming. At last, she jerked her head to the right as hard as she could. This freed one horn and, by proxy, the other. Without bothering to try and pick up her measly meal, she went running. She was unable to escape, though, guards having blocked off all of her escape ways. She cursed and turned around, hoping to stumble upon another passageway or something. More and more guards were coming.

At last, after another mad chase around the castle halls, Glinda found herself trapped in the throne room where all of this nightmare had all begun decades ago. The door was quickly kicked in and a small squadron of armed guards burst in.

"Beware! She's malevolent!" the leader warned his men as he, gun raised, closed in on the horned queen. As he and the other soldiers stepped closer, Glinda soon found herself backed up right into the throne, nowhere else to go. Had she not been so afraid, she might've noted the irony that she was being held against her own throne at gunpoint. But Glinda was not in the proper mindset to notice this irony. Instead, her green eyes were darting wildly around the room for something, anything, that might save her. At last, then, her eyes settled upon a picture of Oz's Time Dragon. A burst of inspiration struck her and, raising her arm, waving her wand, and closing her eyes, she quickly began to chant that transformation spell again. Suddenly, everything in the room was much smaller than before. She had successfully turned into the Time Dragon!

"Sweet Oz!" the guards cried in terror, but Glinda ignored them all. Her only goal was to escape and she didn't want to kill any of these men, however aggressive they were towards her. Being a dragon, Glinda's scaly hide protected her from the guards' gunfire and she was able to spread her giant, leathery wings and fly. She crashed straight through the throne room's wall and flew off into the night sky, dark figure quickly getting lost amongst the stars. All the guards could do at that point was stare in horror as their second monarch in a row went flying away from them, leaving them with a crumbling kingdom to care for. In this case, there would also need to be quite a lot of repairs given how big the hole Glinda left behind in the wall was. Glinda, meanwhile, was still busy thinking. She needed some place to go and Heaven knew that no one would look after her now. Not after everything she had done.

Then at last, without even really meaning to, Glinda found herself flying towards Kiamo Ko, Elphaba's old castle in the west.

"Oh, the bitter irony!" she growled, voice far lower and louder than it had ever been before. This time, she picked up on the irony of her situation, but with no place else to go, the dragon queen continued to fly west. Hopefully, the castle would be large enough to house her…

At last, Glinda reached the castle in the west. She landed right in front of the drawbridge and, after some difficulty, was able to open the Grimmerie and find a reversal spell for her transformation. Suddenly, the world looked a whole lot larger. Giving a sigh halfway between relief and halfway between despair, the human-again queen picked up the two belongings she still had with her and approached the castle doors. They opened easily and she trudged wearily up several flights of stairs before finding herself in what looked kind of like a living room. Even though the room was entirely dark and empty, Glinda couldn't help but feel like she was coming home after a long day at work and the tiniest of smiles flickered across her aged face. She threw the Grimmerie and her wand down and approached one of the old couches the room had. She had barely sat down, though, when a voice called to her and she hopped up once more in surprise.

"Ms. Glinda?" the voice as hesitant, crackly, and childish but Glinda recognized it perfectly despite having only heard it once before.

"Chistery!" she exclaimed, jumping up from her chair. Sure enough, Elphaba's flying monkey butler appeared from the hallway.

"What brings you here?" he asked, beady eyes watching her in confusion and concern.

"Ozian hatred," Glinda deadpanned with a snort. Upon hearing this sarcasm within her voice, Chistery knew that Glinda was ok for the most part.

"Oh, I thought it was a new fashion trend," he said, feeling bold enough to joke back. Glinda wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry because his dry sense of humor was just the sort of thing Elphaba had.

"Don't be dumb," she answered finally. "Black is so out of style right now!"

"Well, I wouldn't know. Elphaba never talked about clothing," Chistery replied.

"That was because she was nothing less than a giant fashion disaster!" Glinda chuckled, a few tears finally leaking from her eyes. Despite the grief and absolute exhaustion she felt, though, Glinda found herself smiling genuinely for the first time since Elphaba died.

Another week passed and Glinda had since told Chistery of all her adventures in the years following Elphaba's death.

"I know you lifted the Animal bans," the flying monkey hooted, smiling up at Glinda with his large mouth.

"I did," Glinda agreed. "But something else happened too…" then she reluctantly told him all about trying to resurrect Elphaba. Once she finished, stating that Elphaba didn't have a chance in this world or any other of coming back, another round of crying began. Glinda was already weeping softly as she realized how close she had been to seeing and touching and kissing that lovely green face again while Chistery himself started to get into quite a funk. Elphaba may not have been the best person in the world and he may not have been super close to her, but Chistery still felt some level of affection for his mistress and hearing Glinda's story was quite distressing to him. He spent the next hour squawking to himself and eating his own lice out of irritation. Glinda would've been disgusted had she not understood how he felt. But Chistery didn't blame Glinda at all.

"You did your best," he assured her later that night once they both calmed down enough to speak. "And either way, it wasn't your fault. It was the Wizard and all of his servants!" the monkey's dark eyes narrowed as he said this.

"I know, but I still feel awful!" Glinda admitted, sniffling. "And I don't know what to do and I have nowhere to go…" she broke off because she thought she was about to cry again. Chistery, however, flapped his wings and flew over to her.

"Nonsense," he said. "You can move in here with me!"

"How can I?" Glinda looked at him with eyes full of an impossibly deep sorrow. "It would only cause more trouble on you!"

"No it won't," Chistery replied. "I've been wanting some company for awhile. As much as I like the other flying monkeys, none of them are as intelligent as I am and I don't have anyone of equal status to talk to now that Elphaba is gone."

"Are you sure?" Glinda asked one last time.

"I'm as sure as Elphaba was green," the monkey nodded and Glinda gave him the most grateful smile he thought he'd ever seen upon any creature.

For another week, Glinda had a new place to hide. She spent her days helping Chistery look after the castle and all of its other inhabitants, monkey or otherwise, and then her nights talking with Chistery about the castle's late mistress. She left her spell book and wand tucked under the couch where she slept. She didn't feel comfortable in going to the place Elphaba once lived. Chistery understood the feeling all too well. It was the only room he never really tended to, just because he knew how territorial Elphaba had been of that place. Everything else, though, was explored and owned and looked after by him and Glinda. For that week, Glinda almost felt at peace. This castle was so different from the one she left behind, but it was a very good different.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long. The citizens of Oz were too afraid of another Wicked Witch of the West to let Glinda go so easily. Instead, one night, they all came marching to her castle in the west with arms at the ready.

"Kill the malevolent mage!" they hollered as they drew near.

"What are we gonna do?" Glinda panicked peering out of one of the tower windows to see the giant mob at the door. Their torches, pitchforks, and pure hatred and determination were all ready. There could've easily been 1000 people down there and Glinda really didn't want to hurt any of them. As blind and hateful as they were, they were still her subjects.

"If you don't want to attack," said Chistery, sensing what Glinda was really afraid of in this moment, "we can fly!"

"Fly?" she turned to him and he nodded back, pointing to the couch where he knew the wand and Grimmerie to be.

The idea of using that hideous spell book again made Glinda's stomach churn but Chistery did have a point. It was fight or flight.

"Ok," she decided. "Flight it is!" then she ran over to the couch, retrieving both magical objects. Suddenly, a dragon stood where Glinda once had. Chistery hooted in surprise. This Glinda was far different from the silly little girl Elphaba had always described with so much love and tenderness.

"Let's go!" Glinda cried to him, voice far lower and deeper than before. Chistery was roused by her grumbled command and nodded, following after Glinda as she burst, yet again, through the castle wall. Despite the intensity of the situation, Chistery couldn't help but despair as he turned back to face the giant hole in the castle wall. If he had known what Glinda was capable of, he would've built her a proper launch pad so she didn't have to keep crashing through buildings… But now was not the time for that. They had to fly, and fast! The Ozians below were angry.

"Ahhhh! Kill her! Kill her!" they screamed in terror and anger, raising their weapons even higher. Only those with long-distance weapons were able to attack, but with Glinda being a giant dragon, their weapons didn't do much at all. At one point, Chistery almost was hit, but he dodged the arrow just in time and then flew right over Glinda for the rest of their escape.

Awhile later, the pair was back in the Emerald City, hiding at its empty outskirts.

"What now?" Glinda asked, panting slightly. She stretched in pain, unused to transforming into a dragon and back again so quickly.

"We go out of Oz altogether," Chistery said, pointing to the Grimmerie and wand again.

"Are you sure?" Glinda asked. "We have no idea where we'll land."

"Well, it's not like this place is any better than whatever that book could cook up," the flying monkey answered. Glinda hated to admit it, but he had a point. Oz wasn't exactly a safe place for either of them now, so what did they have to lose trying to find an alternate universe?

"Ok," the ex-queen decided finally. "Let's go!" then she opened the Grimmerie and began to chant.

Once again, a dragon and a monkey were visible as outlines in the night sky. This time, however, they were no longer in an Ozian sky. They had no idea where they were now, but it seemed they were out of Oz. The spell had worked. They were successfully in a whole new world. They flew straight on until morning, landing in the middle of a forest just as the sun started to rise in the east.

"I have a feeling we're not in Oz anymore," Glinda muttered as she turned back into a human. Chistery hooted in agreement. The pair exchanged a nervous look before both of them inhaled deeply and set about their first task: setting up a new home. It took nearly all day but, by the end of it, Glinda had successfully magicked them both a brand new castle.

"Nice," Chistery hooted.

"I know it's small and dingy," Glinda began defensively. "But it's still home."

"And there's no place like it," the flying monkey agreed, then the two entered Glinda's masterpiece together and began working on an interior.

The pair continued to bunk together in that little castle for a few weeks until they met their first humans. The people looked a lot like the Ozians, but they weren't as pale or short and they didn't wear as much green. They'd been about as friendly as the Ozians, though. There was only four of them, all young men, but every single one had been horrified upon meeting Chistery and they were all absolutely petrified after meeting Glinda. Even after Glinda protested, in their language, that she was a peaceful creature, they went running away screaming.

"Hmm, we might need to blend in with the natives," she murmured that night, looking into a mirror she'd made. Admittedly, a woman with giant horns, incredibly green eyes, and a tattered black cloak wasn't the easiest thing to look at.

"Yeah, I guess flying monkeys aren't native here either," Chistery remarked, inspecting himself in his own mirror with something like indignation on his wrinkled face. Clearly, the poor reception of his physical appearance had gotten to him. It was because, though, he fancied himself quite handsome, considering the circumstances.

"Guess I'd better go find the Grimmerie," Glinda finally sighed. Although nothing could be done about her horns, she was able to make herself appear a little bit more human and she did finally take the time to give herself a proper clean-up. As for Chistery? Glinda turned him into a raven.

"Nice," the ex-flying monkey cawed, inspecting his new wings.

"Sorry," Glinda shrugged, but behind her expressionless face, she was fighting hard not to laugh.

A week later, Glinda and Chistery went through another change. The young men had returned, this time with a large company in tow.

"Great. More guards," Glinda grunted angrily.

"Why? We haven't done anything!" Chistery cawed.

"I know, right?" Glinda agreed. "Why can't they just leave us alone? We aren't hurting anyone! I mean, we're out in the middle of nowhere!"

"Seriously!" Chistery nodded his head, still unused to how the beak bobbed as he did so. "These guys need to ease up a little and stop trying to kill us. I don't want to move again!"

"We won't," Glinda promised. "I'm putting my foot down!" she said, then she stalked right out of her castle and faced this new mob head on.

"Why are you here?" she asked them. She was sick of running. Time to go on the offensive if these men wouldn't leave her alone.

"We've come to vanquish you, malevolent mage!" they boomed in reply.

"Why do you call me that? You don't even know me!" she shouted back, anger rising slowly but surely.

"We don't need to! Your devil horns say it all!" the men answered, then they began to fire bows and spears at Glinda. Glinda ducked back in the nick of time, just barely getting inside her castle and closing the door before she would've been impaled by something. She cursed silently. She hated like crazy what she was about to do, but she had to do it or she'd never have any chance at a peaceful life. After running back up to her tower, she whipped out her wand and spell book.

"I'm giving you one last chance to go in peace before I punish you for intruding upon my property!" she cried down, waving the wand to accent her point. Some of the men did look ready to leave but, in the end, they all stayed.

"We will not be swayed by you, malevolent mage! We will kill you!" they cried, drawing more weapons. "We do not fear you!"

"Then we'd better fix that!" Glinda shot back coldly, then she began to chant.

Barely 30 minutes later, only a quarter the mob remained alive. The rest had been torn to pieces by crows, bees and giant thorn bushes.

"I'll let the rest of you live to tell your kingdom that I desire peace, but if they dare attack again, I will be ready," she snarled at the survivors.

"Yes, your majesty!" they cried. Hmm, quite a step up from "malevolent mage". "But what do we call you?" they asked, trembling. Glinda thought for a moment before giving them a cruel reply.

"Maleficent!" she boomed. Then, with that name ringing in their ears, the survivors of the mob went flying.

"Maleficent, eh?" Chistery crowed as his friend returned to him, wiping the blood off her face and hands.

"From now on, yes," Glinda said. "I won't use my old name anymore and I need something that will really put the fear into people's hearts."

"Well, I'm sure you've done that today," Chistery cawed.

"You'll need a name-change too," Maleficent told the raven. "From now on, you shall be Diablo!" the raven, if he was bothered by the name change, didn't show it. Instead, he only nodded again before perching himself upon his friend's shoulder.

A week later, a letter from the kingdom arrived in the arms of a terrified squire. The letter begged for peace. Still retaining some grace from her old life, Maleficent accepted the letter and thus, a steady bond was forged between Maleficent and her surrounding country. It wasn't a friendly bond, but it did ensure that nobody would ever raise arms against the other. That bond, unfortunately, did not last. It all came to a head when the king didn't invite her to his daughter's christening party.

"What an insult!" Maleficent snapped. "I can't let him get away with it or I'll lose my fearsome image!" she shook her horned head in anger. Then she gestured to her constant companion and together, raven and witch flew to the palace in order to see why they never received an invitation.

Only a few hours later, the duo was flying back to their desolate castle. Apparently, they hadn't received an invitation to the party because they weren't wanted. As understandable as this was, it was still a deep violation of their peace and trust and unity and it was an incredibly disrespectful move all around. Unable to tolerate such insolence and insensitivity, Maleficent had taken her revenge against the foolish family by cursing their daughter to an early death. Perhaps it was unnecessarily cruel, but once again, how else was Maleficent supposed to maintain her fearsome image? And besides, this first transgression might have led to more direct and offensive movements against her and her castle if she didn't do anything about it now. The king had to understand just how seriously Maleficent took treaties, especially the one they were supposed to have.

"I hope they all suffer," Maleficent grumbled coldly as she and Diablo touched down back at home. Diablo said nothing. In truth, Maleficent's growing cruelty concerned him, but he had the wisdom to stay quiet.

16 years later, just as planned, the little princess died. But of course, nothing Maleficent ever did happened without backfiring and this curse was no exception. Apparently, just after Maleficent had left the christening, another fairy, who had been invited because she was actually liked by the royal family, managed to add an escape clause to Maleficent's curse. Although the princess would die, she could be resurrected through true love's kiss.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Maleficent literally began to roar when word of what happened reached her. "They can't do this!" she sounded like a whiny child but she was too far gone in her own anger to care. "They cannot undo all of my work! I was bringing about justice! Oooooh, I'll see to this true love myself and put an end to this mess once and for ALL!" the evil queen quickly morphed back into her dragon form and flew towards the castle with every intent of stopping this prince charming from delivering his kiss. What angered Maleficent most of all about all of this, however, was not that her revenge plan was currently being thwarted. It was the fact that this random fairy had figured out a way to resurrect someone whereas she, a trained witch in every art, had still never succeeded in bringing back Elphaba. The idea of anybody saving a loved one after she'd failed to save Elphaba was simply unbearable.

But, just because it was unbearable didn't make it unstoppable. Despite Maleficent's best effort, the prince managed to kiss the princess awake and he even killed Maleficent in the process. But Maleficent's misery wasn't over. Not even close. Instead, sometime later, the evil fairy found herself in a jail cell. Somehow, she had been resurrected. It was a cruel irony for her that the only person she wanted to bring back was the one person who was never blessed with this resurrection spell even though she and the princess she cursed were both brought back. This cruel irony only became stronger when Maleficent truly began to understand where she was. Apparently, she wasn't even the only resurrected criminal here and that was what made the irony so painful. Why did this land treat death so casually? Why couldn't Elphaba have been born here instead? But Maleficent's wrath finally changed into real curiosity. So she and a bunch of other strangers were all in jail, but where were they? Well, in time, Maleficent would learn that they were in a place called the Isle of the Lost. It was created by "heroes" for people like Maleficent and all of her many cellmates. So she had been resurrected just to go to jail? Great.

It was also then that Maleficent realized just how much had changed. She wasn't entirely sure how long she had been dead, but it must've been quite awhile, given all the new tech available to the world that Maleficent wouldn't have even imagined before now. In addition, it sounded like the kingdom Maleficent used to live on the edge of had since united with several other kingdoms around this world and they were now all united under one supreme ruler. This superpower of kingdoms was called Auradon and their leaders were King Adam and Queen Belle. So now, while Maleficent and these other strangers rotted away on an island jail, all of their enemies were living in the lap of luxury as one big family? Double great. Maleficent's only consolation was Diablo, who had somehow survived all these years without her and had been willing to come to the Isle to join her. That level of devotion gave Maleficent some strength and purpose. That is, it was just enough for her to decide to take over the Isle. See, although everyone there was a villain to some degree, none were as powerful or fearsome as Maleficent. Because of that, taking over hadn't been too hard and, in time, she was the unofficial leader of all the other inmates as well as queen of the island.

Over the next few years, during Maleficent's reign, Maleficent ended up meeting a tall, dark, and handsome stranger. Although she only ever saw him once, there had been something so irresistible about him. Nine months later, she had a daughter to show just how irresistible he had been despite his relatively small part in her life.

"We'll call her Maleficent Jr," Maleficent said, eyeing the red, screaming blob of abomination in disgust. "Mal for short," she added. It seemed clear that Maleficent hated her daughter, but in time things changed. As Mal's first year progressed, so did Maleficent's motherly love for the kid. It took a lot of time, but slowly, Maleficent stopped scowling around the infant and she no longer growled or swore at it. Instead, whatever it needed, she would provide. Initially, she would do this task grudgingly but, in time, she began to enjoy doing it. There was just something so nice about looking after such a tiny little that that loved her so unconditionally. It was a new sensation to the evil fairy but it wasn't an unpleasant one.

"Who's my sweet little baby girl?" Maleficent cooed as she and Mal played together in Maleficent's moderately sized home on the Isle of the Lost. It was far from pretty or grand, but it was still one of the larger, nicer places to live at. In addition, it kept both Maleficent and her daughter happy and healthy, which was all that mattered in the end. Maleficent watched her tiny, purple-haired, green-eyed, pale-skinned daughter giggle and crawl across the floor after an old rubber ball Maleficent had stolen from some other kid.

"Awww, what a cutie," she sighed, tipping her horned head as the baby rolled the ball to her. Maleficent chuckled gently at the playful act and rolled the ball back. Mal giggled in delight and Maleficent reached out to pat her soft, purple curls. The others in the Isle were amazed. The evilest of all had been tamed by a mere baby! But, a mother's love was a powerful thing. Diablo became an honorary uncle. It did his bird heart good to see Maleficent learning to love. It's like seeing Glinda the Good again. he mused as he watched Mal play.

Alas, such love did not last. Maleficent had been taking Mal out for a midnight walk by the sea around their Isle home when it all changed. The sea had once been ugly in Maleficent's green eyes because it reminded her of the fact that she was stuck here in this pit, but now it almost seemed beautiful. It shined silver in the white moonlight and the gentle sound of the waves lapping at the shore was almost peaceful. Somehow, having a child had changed Maleficent's whole outlook. A mother's love could see the beauty in everything, even things it once deemed ugly.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't old Maleficent," a cold, cruel voice split the peaceful night like a knife and Maleficent was on guard instantly.

"Who's there?" she snarled, snatching up her daughter protectively. The girl had been busy looking into the water when her mom yanked her away.

"Just an old friend," the voice said. Then, out from the shadows stepped King Hubert. He was the father of the prince that had saved Aurora, Maleficent's curse victim. The evil fairy felt her stomach drop as she saw his aged face leering at her from the darkness.

"You…" she croaked. In her mind's eye, she could already see Aurora and the prince, Phillip, sneering down at her through this king.

"That's right," he cooed. "I just came here to see if the rumors were true…" he narrowed his eyes as he looked at the baby in Maleficent's arms. He didn't come closer, but another sadistic smirk graced his face. "My, she looks just like her mom. May I ask who the father is?"

"You may, but I won't answer," Maleficent shot back warily, holding Mal even tighter. Mal was totally unaware of what was going on, cooing happily. As far as she was concerned, her mother was just hugging her. A mother's love was a very cuddling thing, to her.

"Whatever," Hubert shrugged. "I just wanted to know. But now that I do, I am glad."

"Why?" Maleficent backed up ever so slightly.

"To repay you," he answered slowly.

Then before Maleficent could even blink, Hubert had surged forward and lashed out with a knife concealed up his sleeve. Maleficent stumbled in surprise, it was enough to cause her to lose focus on Mal. He took that tiny tumble to steal the girl from Maleficent's arms.

"No!" Maleficent cried, reaching out, but he had already taken Mal away. "What are you going to do?" the fairy asked, almost desperate. Her green eyes flashed, but not with hatred. Instead, they flashed with fear. For Mal. A mother's love always feared for her child.

"I'm going to repay you," Hubert echoed in the same slow voice. "I want you to know what it feels like to lose a child so young. You nearly killed my son! I want you to understand that fear and guilt and pain!" he said, then he turned on toe and ran. Maleficent, naturally, went running after. She knew that she did technically deserve this for cursing baby Aurora and hurting Prince Phillip, but Maleficent wasn't going to lose her child.

The chase lasted until Hubert found Maleficent' s tower house. He went to the main floor (which was 25 feet above ground) and then went to the window that overlooked the heart of the Isle. He held Mal out the window, hovering the child dangerously in the air. Maleficent reached him just in time to see him stick Mal out the window. She stopped dead in her tracks, three feet away from him. She paled and began to mutter and plead. Her heart pounded in terror and she hated it. She hated how weak a mother's love could make her feel.

"Please don't," she whimpered, wringing her hands together and moaning piteously. "I'll do anything."

"I know," Hubert answered in that eerily calm voice, then he let Mal fall.

Maleficent didn't remember anything after seeing Mal leave Hubert's grip. Instead, she was only aware of the wind roaring in her ears. Before she knew it, it seemed as though the whole Isle had appeared from nowhere and every single person there was screaming. What? What?! Why are they screaming?! Maleficent thought, annoyed. She dropped the burden she was carrying in her mouth. Wait, what?

"Maleficent ate her baby! She ate her own child!" one man's shout managed to reach Maleficent's ears above all of the others. What? Ate my baby? Is he mad? the dragon thought. Then she looked down, suddenly aware of how high up she was. There, by a set of dragon claws was a limp, tiny, bloody form. Maleficent lowered her head and her dragon eye widened to impossible size. Mal! and then it all came back to her.

As soon as Hubert dropped Mal out the window, Maleficent had thrown herself out the window too, turning into a dragon as she fell, just barely in time to save them both from hitting the ground. Unfortunately, when Maleficent scooped Mal up, some of her teeth sank into the baby's tender flesh. Horror, guilt, despair, and fear washed over Maleficent and she let out a dragon's roar of pain. No! What did I do?! Oh no! Oh please, no! Not Mal! But by then, some strangers had come to inspect Mal and were taking her away, Maleficent began to panic again. She wanted to fly after her them to see if Mal was still alive, but chains were being thrown on her from all sides until she could hardly move. She looked wildly around until she noticed something dark flitting against the moonlit sky. It was Diablo. They only needed to share one look for them to both understand the message: Protect and follow Mal at all costs.

"Yes ma'am, even if it takes my life!" Diablo cawed back and he knew that she had heard his voice in particular over the shouts of the angry people below. He had been totally unaware of all of this commotion until he heard Maleficent's roar, but it didn't take him long to catch up. He desperately wanted to protect Maleficent, but he knew that she would hate him if he didn't try for Mal first. Besides, there wasn't much a crow could do for a trapped dragon, so while the others tormented Maleficent into unconsciousness, he flew to Auradon, chasing Mal wildly.

When she woke again, Maleficent (back in human form) was in a tiny underground cell, chained in such a way that she couldn't move a single body part. She even wore head gear that prevented her from moving her neck, jaw, or shoulders. She began to panic, not enjoying the sensation at all. Just as she began to rattle the chains, an angry voice from nearby told her to shut up.

"Where am I?" she asked, ignoring the order and hating how scratchy and ugly her voice sounded.

"A dungeon in the deepest part of the Isle of the Lost," the answer came. "You're to spend eternity like this for murder," murder!? Oh Mal…the evil fairy bowed her head in mourning, grieving silently for the lost innocent and for her own accident hand in it. The guilt she felt was even stronger than the countless chains that bound her into a living mummy.

A few days later, Maleficent escaped her dungeon. She had recovered strength enough to summon her dragon tail. She wondered briefly why she was unable to turn the rest of herself as well, but she had no time for that. Instead, she waited until her guard brought her the daily slop. As he bent down to shove the rusty tray to her, her tail shot out and hit him hard enough to kill him. She dragged him closer and stole the keys off of his corpse. Minutes later, Maleficent was back on the surface of the Isle. She did not make her presence known instantly though. Instead, she brooded in the shadow for several more days. She had to find a way to get to Auradon and off the Isles, but how?

Finally, Maleficent could wait no longer. Her pain and fury had grown so great that she found the strength to turn into a full dragon again. She smash the barrier between the Isle and Auradon, crushing the wall to smithereens. It was also in that moment that Maleficent realized why she had found it so hard to turn into a dragon after being chained up in her cell. The wall, following her dragon attack, had been laced with a special spell that kept anyone inside of the wall from doing any kind of magic. Maleficent must've been pretty powerful to be able to turn into a dragon despite the magic restraints. But with the wall down, every magic was up for grabs. A mother's love was a very powerful thing.

Maleficent flew over to Auradon with fury burning in her green eyes. She let out an earsplitting roar that terrified Auradon and enlivened the Isle. Though some of the villains still held Maleficent in fear and contempt for "eating her own baby", the promise of revenge tempted most of them into joining her anyway and soon, the sound of countless footsteps shook Auradon as every enemy they ever had came back to haunt them.

"They tried to kill my daughter!" Maleficent roared, but since nobody spoke dragon, the battle that ensued was chaotic and unorganized. It was only the fact that every criminal of the Isle wanted revenge that kept them all together. They were united not by friendship or a military leader, but by a common goal of total destruction. Maleficent had this goal as well, intending to make every last soul in Auradon pay for all the suffering they had caused her. During the fight, Maleficent killed Hubert. There was nothing stronger than an angry mother, for a mother's love could be a terrifying and deadly thing. After biting his head off boastfully, Maleficent spiraled up into the air and looked down upon the warring world, wondering who to kill next.

A couple days later, Maleficent had conquered Auradon as its High Queen, setting her closest allies as various lords and ladies. Her big three friends were Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella DeVill. They also had children about Mal's age, but Maleficent didn't not care about them. Instead, now that Mal had properly been avenged, it was time for Maleficent to establish a new era here, one that would last forever and would ensure that she would never be mistreated or run out again. Diablo became Maleficent's consort and head general. While he and the villainous lords and ladies conquered smaller territories of Auradon, Maleficent remained at the capital, rebuilding it in her image. The previous form of Auradon had been too sickly sweet. This new one was darker, grittier, and fierce. It was more Maleficent. Her reign was complete.

A couple weeks into her reign, however, Maleficent made a shocking discovery. Mal. The girl was still alive somehow. Apparently, the doctors of Auradon had genuinely tried to save the child, believing that she shouldn't have to die for her mother's own evil. But the joy of this reunion was lost upon the evil fairy. She was not the same mother she'd been just a few weeks ago. Instead, upon hearing of Mal's miraculous survival, the new queen of Auradon merely shrugged. Even though Mal had been the reason Maleficent overthrew Auradon, she was not the reason Maleficent was continuing to rule the place with an iron fist.

"Bring her to me," she ordered once one of her mooks revealed to her that Mal was alive and recovering. The mook obediently brought the baby in.

But Maleficent began to see her baby as a mere pawn more and more every day, leaving it up to Diablo to arrange her care. Although Maleficent was glad to have Mal back on her lap, she no longer had the desire to raise the child properly. Mal became Diablo's responsibility despite everything Maleficent had already done in order to save the infant. This sudden change in heart bothered Diablo quite a lot but he knew that to speak against his mistress was to possibly get himself killed and he didn't want that. Besides, if he did die, who would raise Mal? Maleficent certainly didn't seem up to the job, any traces of Glinda the Good having vanished once more. So Diablo swallowed Maleficent's cruelty against her child and he tried to keep the baby safe from her. Already, Maleficent had begun to see the tooth marks that lined Mal's tiny torso as things to admire instead of abhor.

"See those scars? I gave her those!" the mad queen bragged. "They are proof that she truly is the daughter of a dragon!"

"The daughter of a dunderhead, more like," Diablo muttered to himself as he tried his best to feed the crying infant.

A season later, Maleficent's reign of terror ended. Mal had just turned one year old and Maleficent insisted upon a huge party. It was not out of love for Mal, though. Mostly, the party was a sign of dominance over the kingdom. Maleficent rubbed it in their faces that one day, Mal would be their new leader.

"I saw it once upon a dream!" Maleficent bragged coldly. "It WILL happen. So let's get this party started!" she commanded. The whole kingdom fearfully set out to make Mal's party the largest in the kingdom.

The party began well enough but, since Maleficent was out of the castle, several heroes of the resistance managed to sneak in. The resistance heroes were a brave few who stayed noble and true during the long reign of terror and they had orchestrated many heroic quests to save as many people as they could. Now, they were pulling off the dangerous stunt of trying to end Maleficent's rule with one special object. They were aiming to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand. That object was part of the reason Maleficent had won the war in the first place. She stole it while in dragon form and the thing proved to be stronger than even the mightiest spell in her Grimmerie. With that new wand, she'd taken over and secured her rule. For that, it never left her side. Today, however, she didn't think she'd need it, so it stayed by her throne. Since the resistance heroes knew this, they made a bee-line to her main chamber, snuck in, and took the wand.

Maleficent and her sordid crew were back on the Isle of the Lost before they even knew what hit them. This time, though, the pain was far worse. Fresh food stopped being sent over the Isles now had to make do on scraps. No fresh clothing or building supplies were ever sent in so it all fell into disrepair pretty quickly. In addition, Auradon continually tried to pit the inmates against each other to prevent another unified uprising. It worked well, with alliances being shaky at best amongst the inmates of the Isles.

Worst of all though was the ban on magic. The barrier separating the Isle from Auradon was restored and strengthened to a point where no magic worked at all and this even included simple charms. At least the original barrier had prevented some minor magic. This new one, however, rendered every last magical object totally useless. Even Maleficent's old wand and Grimmerie did nothing anymore. Suffice to say, Maleficent was furious. She spent the next 15 years raging bitterly against Auradon and she tirelessly worked on a plan to get revenge. She also spent those years ruthlessly training her daughter to be evil like her.

"You'll bring honor to us all one day," Maleficent told Mal. "I just want you to be ready for it,"

"And I will be," Mal promised with the devoted innocence of a child. "I'll be as evil and wicked as I can be!"

"Ah! That's my nasty little girl," Maleficent said with an approving sneer. Gone was a mother's love from Maleficent to Mal and here to stay was a dictator's love of another pawn for their selfish chess game.

Admittedly, though, way down deep, Maleficent did love Mal in her own strange and cruel way, but it seemed to Maleficent that everyone she loved ended up dead. For that, she restrained herself from being a cuddly mom and she raised her own child to hate the world. It was better to be hateful so that when the world's cruelty reared its ugly head, you had no heart to be broken. At least, that was the way Maleficent saw it. So she suppressed her maternal love for Mal and raised the girl with an iron fist and Mal became the perfect example of what happens to children raised in a loveless world. Diablo was forced to take it all in passively, but even he knew Mal would never really be evil. Her mother had been Glinda the Good, after all. But that didn't stop Maleficent from trying to get the girl to go bad. Thus, hatred became a mother's love to Maleficent.  
"Don't you wanna be evil, like me, don't you wanna be mean?" the evil fairy hummed as she watched her teenage daughter running around the streets of the Isles with four others, causing mayhem wherever she went. That was her nasty little girl!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: There were some Wicked references in the first Descendants film so of course I had to write a crossover where Maleficent used to be Glinda. This just showed how Glinda managed to fall so far that she became Chenoweth-Maleficent. I hope you liked this prequel/look into Glinda/Maleficent's twisted mind.


	2. Part II

It all changed after that, however. When Mal turned 16, Auradon announced that they were going to allow four villain kids go to Auradon Prep High because, though they shared blood with the villains, they weren't villains themselves.

"You must go!" Maleficent ordered Mal as soon as the announcement about this little change in schooling was made. Then, even when Mal complained that she didn't want to go to a sissy school, Maleficent continued to push her daughter.

"Think about it! You could steal Fairy Godmother's wand, get it to me, and we could take over Auradon!" she insisted. This plan finally managed to convince Mal to go. Of course, the young girl still had her reservations about going to a prep school, but with her mother's evil plan burning in the back of her mind, she finally allowed herself to be coerced into going.

But there were four villains who were chosen to go. Mal was one of them. The others were Evie, Jay, and Carlos, children of Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella DeVille. The other three had never meant anything to Maleficent other than the fact that they kept Mal entertained when Maleficent, herself, was too busy to, so she didn't even bother speaking with them about her sneaky little plan. Instead, to her, Mal was the only one truly vital to this endeavor. The rest were just little side bits, good for nothing except for a bit of backup if Mal should need it, though Maleficent hoped not, having raised Mal to be highly independent. But either way, it was time to head out to school!

A year later, Maleficent had finally joined her daughter at her school. It all happened just in time for graduation that year, which was also coinciding with a far more important event: the coronation of Prince Ben, son of King Adam and Queen Belle. But things didn't go the way Maleficent had planned. She had been wrong about Mal. Mal had actually actively betrayed the Isle of the Lost.

"How can you give up on everything we've wanted for so long?!" Maleficent thundered when Mal tried to talk Maleficent out of her evil plot.

"No! It's what you wanted!" Mal shot back. Oh, she looked so ugly in that fluffy white dress with her purple hair in a stupid up-do.

"So?" Maleficent rolled her green eyes. Now wasn't the time for specificity anyway. They had a kingdom to usurp!

"Didn't you ever think to ask what I want?" Mal asked. That was a dangerous question, but the answer was still no. Why? Because mother knew best. Maleficent hadn't ever bothered to ask Mal what she wanted out of life because, in Maleficent's slanted worldview, Mal's opinion didn't matter. How could she possibly know what she wanted in life? She was still so young and naive! Maleficent was the smart one here! She was the sinister sorceress with all those years of experience to back her up. Mal was only a child! And a pesky little one at that!

"Please, mom, I know you've been hurting, but so have I!" Mal continued to try and talk Maleficent down despite Maleficent's obvious distaste with her daughter at the moment. "Let me show you that love is really amazing!" she was crying now.

"There is no room in your life for love!" Maleficent shot back, unmoved by her daughter's tears. Or, at least she was physically unmoved. But then, somewhere very deep inside of Maleficent, the sight of Mal crying did something to her. For some reason, hearing Mal talk through her tears made Maleficent pause. She had an excellent poker face so she was more than capable of masking what her daughter was making her feel, but as skilled as she was, even Maleficent couldn't hide her own emotions from herself. Instead, as Mal continued to cry and plead with her, Maleficent could only listen, even though she didn't want to. And with every word that Mal spoke, Maleficent began to wonder...

Maleficent thought way, way back into the past, recalling that dark and fateful night when she lost Elphaba. And then she thought about that other dark and fateful night when she almost lost baby Mal... But that was just it! That was why there was no room in anyone's life for love! Because no matter what, it seemed that life was bound to do anything in order to destroy that love! Maleficent had proof of this! And so did Mal! Both of them knew of the dangers of love and they both knew that Maleficent's plot was totally justified and rational!

But then, why was Mal crying? If both she and Maleficent knew that love was bad, why was Mal crying and talking so passionately about love? Had Maleficent not taught her to live evil? Yes. She had. But something hadn't worked, for it was quite clear that Mal did love. Deeply. And when Maleficent dared to meet Mal's eyes again, she recoiled, disturbed by what she saw. Mal loved her too. After 16 years of abuse, Mal loved Maleficent. Maleficent could see it in Mal's eyes, plain as day, and that was what scared her most, how certain Mal was about her feelings.

"There is no room in your life for love!" Maleficent repeated, tearing her eyes away from Mal's. Then she forced herself into her dragon form, giving one last shot at shutting down her sense of emotion in favor of her sense of logic.

Feeling that familiar surge of fire fill her heart calmed Maleficent somewhat. This would all be over soon. Mal was just going through one of those teenager things. Maleficent would deal with her later. Right now, they had a kingdom to usurp! But Mal wasn't finished yet either. When Maleficent tried to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand from her wayward child, the other children from the Isle of the Lost came to her aid. One by one, Evie, Jay and Carlos each came to Mal's aid, helping her to keep the Fairy Godmother's wand out of Maleficent's massive talons. The little band then spent the next few minutes darting around Auradon Chapel, a very dangerous game of Cat and Mouse ensuing between them all. But then at last, the chase came to an end. Fittingly, it was between the mother and daughter duo that had started it all...

"It's just you and me, mother," Mal murmured finally, holding the wand at her side as she forced herself to meet Maleficent's green eyes once again. Now they were glowing with hatred. Maleficent tried to use her dark magic to fill Mal's head with visions so terrible that she would break. This time, though, Mal did not break. Instead, she began to chant coldly.

"Evil power is as good as none when four hearts become one!" Mal uttered this chant over and over again, growing louder with every recitation of it. Maleficent had tried to ignore it at first, disregarding it as just some stupid little encouragement Mal was trying to give herself, but when Mal's voice only got steadier and louder, Maleficent was finally forced to listen.

Maleficent began to really look into Mal's eyes, not just to hypnotize or brainwash, but to actually see what was going on in that purple-haired head of her daughter's. The giant dragon saw sorrow, joy, excitement, hope, and forgiveness flash in the eyes of her daughter and, the longer Maleficent stared, the weaker she began to feel. What finally broke her, however, was the very last emotion that Mal's eyes conveyed. Love. It was so overpowering that Maleficent instinctively shut her eyes to it, unable to see her own deeds when trying to look through the eyes of love.

The moment she shut her eyes, however, she sealed her fate. The act of shutting her eyes had been an act of cowardice, surrender and defeat, but it had also been an act of admittance. Maleficent, whether willingly or not, had not only conceded that Mal was the winner of this little stare down, but she had also admitted herself as the loser, the villain, the monster. And as Maleficent's massive eyelids closed over globe-like eyes, all the weakening dragon could think about was what a horrible, evil, wicked witch she really had been. And as these almost remorseful thoughts in Maleficent's mind grew, she shrunk, until she was nothing but a tiny black lizard. What? How?

"She shrunk to the size of the love in her heart," Fairy Godmother explained to Mal once Maleficent had reached her smallest form, no bigger than the palm of a hand. Maleficent wasn't sure if this idea shamed or angered her. Wait, why would it do either? Maleficent shook her tiny head in disgust and made to run off, but before she could, some idiot boy trapped her in a glass jar, stopping her little escape attempt with ease.

"Careful! That's my mom!" Mal reproached the boy who had done this and he backed away shyly while Mal turned a gentle gaze towards the jar. Maleficent had never been more ashamed, angry, or annoyed. What was going to happen now?

Well, Maleficent was going to stay with Mal. Maleficent became Mal's unofficial pet in her sophomore year of school and Maleficent was moved from the tiny glass jar to a nice glass tank by Mal's bedside that suited Maleficent's personality well. That is, it had a dirt floor with a tree that had lots of holes for her to slide into when she didn't want to be seen, which was quite often. She had been told by Fairy Godmother that she was to stay in this condition until she learned to love again. Naturally, Maleficent had been averse to the idea, but what power did one tiny lizard have? So she was forced to become a pet and listen to Mal's stories every day after school. With no means of magic or escape, Maleficent was forced to remain in her lizard form and be content with it, if nothing else.

Three years later, nothing had changed. Maleficent was still Mal's little class pet and she was still living in that little glass tank on the nightstand of her daughter's dorm room. Or at least, almost nothing had changed. Maleficent might not have grown so much as an inch over the past few years of her daughter's time in high school, but at the very least, the ex-witch had managed to find some level of peace, balance and contentedness in her life. That wasn't to say she was turning soft or going good, but she was at least less volatile, angry and aggressive as she had been before. Time in that little glass tank with only good little Mal for company had almost mellowed Maleficent out...

As a lizard, Maleficent could not communicate back to her daughter whenever her daughter tried to speak to her, but Maleficent would still try to. It started off with Mal telling Maleficent about her day every day after school. In the first few months, Maleficent never listened to those stories, going into hiding whenever Mal would come back to the dorm after her last class of the day. But then, as the first year rolled on, Maleficent began to warm up to Mal and her other friends.

The lizard spent more time in the open and less time hiding in her tree. She would now allow Mal told hold her without trying to escape. These changes, though slow and subtle, were actually quite impressive, but Mal did not notice simply because Mal had since made it a personal goal to try and hold her mother for at least five minutes per week. Maleficent never quite understood where such an idea had come from, but she guessed that it probably came from one of Mal's classes that insisted that positive and gentle, reassuring physical contact was one of the ways to build bonds of trust and love. Maleficent thought it was all a load of hooey, but it seemed that Mal had taken it to heart, picking Maleficent up out of her cage and just petting her at least once a week. Maleficent had never had the heart to bite Mal during these times, even though such a cruel thing was totally in-character for her. Instead, she would always allow Mal to hold her, even when such a deed still got on her nerves. But as the year rolled on, Maleficent found herself genuinely enjoying the moments her daughter would hold her like this...

Another plus that came along during Maleficent's time stuck in Auradon came in the form of her old friend, Diablo. He also came to visit Maleficent as often as he coudl. He even helped Maleficent escape her cage sometimes, helping to remove the lid of her cage and lift her right out of it. He did this not to entice her to rebel, but instead just to let her see some new sites on campus once in awhile so she didn't spend all of her time cooped up. He was always sure to return her back to her cage when these private expeditions were done, no matter how hard she protested.

"I can't imagine how awful being locked up is," he sighed telepathically while stretching his black wings as she jumped on his back. He had released her for another little flight around campus.

"Don't rub it in," she grunted in reply, tiny claws digging carefully into his back feathers so that she could hang on without hurting him. He used to carry her in his beak, but she had since expressed a great discomfort with that method of travel, so now whenever Diablo would come to take her out for a spin, she would ride on his back, risky as that was.

"I'm not," he promised and together, he and his tiny friend went soaring over Auradon together. Just for a moment, Maleficent forgot her worries.

But Maleficent was still far from loving. Even after growing used to Mal's touch and Diablo's visits, she could be temperamental and nasty. And even though she never bit Mal, she would always bite anybody else who tried to touch her. Even Evie, Jay, and Carols. Though, as the years passed, Maleficent did begin to dream… Maleficent had never really hated Mal. She only ever pretended to. But now that it seemed Mal was safe, maybe Maleficent could try a mother's love again …? Because if the danger was past, there was no need to live in fear and loathing anymore. Right? So maybe, a mother's love could come back? Besides, it wasn't like she had anything better to do with her life anymore... No! Maleficent hissed at herself. Safe or not, Maleficent was still a villain and there was still no room in her life for love, especially a mother's love. But she did entertain the thought every once in awhile.

Such fantasies came to an end in Mal's fourth and final year of Auradon Prep. Although more and more villains and their kids were reforming, a select few on both sides had been averse to such change. There were those on the Isle who felt that surrendering to Auradon's treaty was cowardice and there were those in Auradon who thought letting in people from the Isle was unfair. Those forces were small compared to the majority who supported the integration, but they were a mighty force regardless. Eventually, this political disagreement became an all-out war in Auradon. Maybe no official army had been created for any of the sides of the battle, but there had definitely been several physical attacks done by one group upon the other, and the reason was always cited to either be pro- or anti-integration groups. Personally, Maleficent would've sided with those trying to take over Auradon again, but as a tiny lizard, she had no power to do anything. Instead, she could only listen to the growing discussions from her little tank, whether she liked it or not.

And things stayed this way until about halfway through the year when Mal suddenly went missing. Although all of Auradon had been on thin ice for that entire year, treachery and betrayal in every corner of the kingdom, Mal had managed to stay relatively safe and out of the main argument. Because of that, even in the most politically and socially heated of times, the young girl always managed to spend at least a few minutes per day with her mother. That was how Maleficent first realized that Mal was missing. It happened when the girl failed to show up for her daily talk with Maleficent about all that had happened so far upon that particular day. At first, Maleficent had only assumed that Mal was late, then that she had forgotten, then that she had been too busy or disinterested to talk, but after a straight five days of not even seeing Mal enter the dorm or run across the dorm's hall, Maleficent finally began to realize that things were a bit worse off than she'd expected...

Two days later, after Mal had been missing for exactly a week, Maleficent finally reached her wits end. She'd actually sent Diablo out looking for her two days ago, but he still had yet to even catch a glimpse of her anywhere in Auradon Prep, or in Auradon castle, or anywhere within the city itself. By that seventh day, when her loyal companion could yield no answers, Maleficent felt herself reach that breaking point. Maleficent was mad. But that fury was laced with concern, a real and selfless concern.

"What am I going to do?" she spat in frustration as she looked at the empty bed beside her tank. It hadn't been filled in seven days and neither Diablo nor all the friends he'd recruited to help look had been able to tell Maleficent why...

"What am I going to do?!" she repeated, still angry. Then, right when Maleficent began to realize that she genuinely missed Mal and was worried for her safety, Maleficent felt something began to change within her. Something was not the same. Maleficent felt a pain surge through her whole body, like she was being burnt and torn to shreds at the same time. She shrieked in agony, but there was nobody there to help. Instead, she was forced to endure this strange torment but, then at last, it was over. After about a minute of this burning, ripping sensation, it was over. But by then, Maleficent was too freaked out to notice or care that the pain had stopped. Why? Well, because, now, all of a sudden, she was out of her cage and on the floor below, but most surprising of all was the fact that she was human again…

Once Maleficent realized that she was human again, she wasted no time in running. She hopped to her feet and sprinted out the dorm without another thought. She needed to find Mal, but she knew she wouldn't be able to do it with any help from Auradon, or even the Isle of the Lost. No, she was going to have to go even further away if she wanted any real help. She would have to go all the way back to the crumbling kingdom that had been her beginning in this new world. If Maleficent wanted any help to find and save Mal, she would have to go beyond Auradon and even beyond the Isle. She would have to go all the way back to the first kingdom that she'd ever claimed while under the name "Maleficent".

Maleficent spent the next week there, in that dark old castle, practicing her magic. After going nearly 20 years without seeing this place or using her own magic instead of something from the Fairy Godmother, she was a tad rusty with her work. But soon enough, she had conjured up enough strength to call up the minions who had been cast down following her death at the sword of Prince Phillip. It was really strange to be back here again, like nothing had ever happened, all of her minions bowing at her feet again, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant...

"Come on then! We have a girl to find!" Maleficent instructed her twisted army of goblins and goons, and they set out obediently, crossing this land and whatever else they could find in attempt to serve their queen. Maleficent had also managed to contact Diablo once she returned to their oldest lair. He had been delighted to hear that she was back to normal and joining the hunt for Mal.

"I still haven't found her," he confessed. "But I learned that Evie and Carols were also taken, along with all their parents!" he added. This news disturbed Maleficent deeply because it meant that the villain kids weren't the only ones being taken out. So were their parents.

"We need to keep looking," the evil fairy said grimly, conjuring up even more minions with her wand (since she'd given Mal the spell book and that had gone missing right along with the girl herself) and sending them out across Auradon and the Isles in attempt to find her missing child.

At last, though, Diablo found Mal.

"She's in a secret cave about 50 miles from the school," the black bird reported home to Maleficent one dark day about a month after Mal had gone missing in the first. The moment she got this message from her trusty old friend, Maleficent had turned into a dragon faster than the blink of an eye and she had flown like never before, trying to get to this secret little cave as soon as she could. The dragon knew that being discovered like this might mean a death sentence for her, but if Mal could be found, she did not care at all. Instead, the dragon only continued to speed across the sky, her oldest and closest companion leading the way to where he had finally found Mal after so many fruitless days and nights before.

It was to the edge of a large forest towards the northern half of Auradon that Diablo took Maleficent. At the edge of that dark and mysterious wood was a small cave. In the cave was a path down deep into the earth. Maleficent wasted no time in morphing back into her human form and climbing down into that underground chamber. What she found was beyond words. Inside, at the bottom of the trail of that little cave, was an entire underground network of livable places. It was like the Auradon Prep dorms, only below ground instead of above it! And who did Diablo say that he had found in this underground dormitory? Well, everyone who had ever gone missing! He didn't just find Mal here. He also found Evie, Jay, Carlos, and their parents, Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella DeVille. Apparently, one band of Auradon people who were against the integration of the children of the Isle of the Lost had tried to physically attack and kill some of the Isles students and, in order to protect themselves, they had fled the school soon after that little attempted hate crime and this was where they had chosen to set up shop.

In time, however, Isles students weren't the only ones living in this underground safe haven. Pro-integration children of heroes were down here too, acting as allies and supporters to the children of the Isles. Their parents joined when even normal Auradon citizens joined in on the anti-integration movement. In short, this underground bunker was a safe space for any villain kid (or their family or allies) being victimized for trying to return to good society. But not every single member of this secret lair was directly present. A few had been brave enough to go out into the world and try to fight on the front lines for social change, both here in Auradon and back on the Isles of the Lost. For example, while people like Audrey, Ben, Jafar and Evie were looking after Auradon with Adam, people like Fairy Godmother, Jay, Carlos, Evil Queen and Belle were at the Isles of the Lost, attempting to hold things together out there.

From that point on, although Maleficent still hadn't been able to reunite with her daughter, the ex-evil witch began to take a more active role in the currently social movement shaping the country. Obviously, she was still too controversial of a figure to dare step out onto the front lines, but she and her minions were more than capable of working from behind the scenes, offering vicarious aid to the students as they did their best to protect themselves and each other from any harm. Diablo often made trips back to the Isles on Maleficent's behalf to help her see how her old home was fairing in these politically charged times. It saddened Maleficent a little to think that she was so knowledgeable on handling social justice wars and general chaos from the general public, but that was only because it reminded her of the days long since past where she had been called Glinda the Good, but fighting a similar battle: one for equality and peace against a world full of hatred and division. This was just like Oz, only under a different name. But even though this concept made Maleficent feel quite sad and nihilistic, it gave her some comfort in the fact that this fight was nothing knew. It was a game she'd already played and, thusly, was a game she already knew how to navigate quite well...

Towards the end of that school year, all the opposing viewpoints and sides regarding the integration of villains into polite society finally came together in what was analogous to an epic last battle of a fairytale of old. It was quite the impressive setup, several nicely-sized armies all meeting in the Auradon courtyard to give one last shot at diplomacy before the next logical step would come into play. It was there that Maleficent, hiding in the shadows and waiting for the battle to begin, got to really see the lines drawn out clearly for the first time, but then she wasn't sure whose side was more impressive or intimidating.

On the side FOR integration and equality stood an array of people from Maleficent's past, friend and foe both, and that was what was really weird for her. Standing side by side, arm in arm, were people like Adam, Evil Queen, Belle, Jafar, Jay, Jane, Carlos, Ben, Audrey, Phillip, Cinderella, Cruella, Evie, Doug and Fairy Godmother. Heroes and villains were side by side to right a terrible wrong and there was a strange beauty about it. But most important of all, standing towards the front of that army's rank was none other than Mal herself, Maleficent's long-lost daughter.

Although this was not the first time that Maleficent had had the chance to see the girl's face, it was the first time she'd managed to see it so clearly, not being obscured by darkness or disguise. No, in a refreshing change of face, Mal's head was very high, face outward for all to see, and what a beautiful sight it was to behold! It had only been about half a year at this point, but she looked so changed! She looked so strong, brave, powerful, fearless and fierce, commanding and bold, unafraid and mighty! It made Maleficent's heart swell with pride and awe. That was her little girl! Standing there in that armor, weapon ready to use and eyes sharp and hard! The little whelp had dragon claws after all, didn't she?!

As for the side AGAINST villain integration? Well, a lot of them who had come to the battle were the heroes that were against it. The villains, Maleficent was guessing, had instead stayed back home on the Isles of the Lost. Whether they chose to avoid this final skirmish by their own choice or whether it had been due to some deal or other outside coercion, Maleficent didn't know. All she knew was that this far-smaller army standing before Mal and Auradon's was being led by faces that Maleficent's memory registered mostly as enemies. The one standing at the head of it all, in the same place Mal and Ben were standing, was Chad Charming.

"Ah, Ben, what brings you here?" Chad asked in false friendliness as he took a step towards the young king of Auradon.

"The innocent people you've hurt," Ben replied coldly, not even sparing Chad the false politeness of a king.

"What do you mean?" Chad asked in mock innocence, but the way his eyes glittered coldly and with great contempt told a different tale.

"I mean the villains you're trying to frame so you can send them and their children away," the young king answered, eyes slitting dangerously.

"All the villains and their children that you and your hate-group are hurting to further your own selfish and narrow-minded agenda!" Mal, who was standing at Ben's side, agreed, voice just as bitter and indignant.

Chad opened his mouth, prepared to offer a very sleazy and snarky remark to the daughter of Maleficent, but he never got to say a word because Ben cut him off sternly and kept on lecturing him.

"We know what you and your little band of monsters has been doing ever since the year began and I'd like to tell you now that it is the most sick, twisted, villainous thing any person could ever come up with. Turning an entire country against its own people just because you don't like that particular demographic? I mean, come on man! Try for at least a little empathy!"

"Yeah! Hurting innocent people after you'd sworn to protect them and redeem them if they so chose to is nothing short of perjury to the highest degree! It is selfish, vile, dishonest, cruel, and very, very low and petty. Even and especially for someone like you, who of all people, ought to exude the kindness, justice and nobility that you so love to brag that you possess!" Mal agreed, practically breathing fire in her anger. "I know that blood means nothing, but I still expect far better from someone with such loving parents!" she growled at Chad.

"Agreed!" Mal's words got Ben so riled up that he interrupted with his own little disparage about how Chad had betrayed his parents (along with his country and their people). "I know the Charming line! It is a very good one, kind and empathetic. But you? No. You are anything but! An utter disgrace and a monster! A stain upon the family's good name! How ashamed they must be of you! How deeply your betrayal must've hurt them! Have you no sense of remorse at all, Chad?!" Ben's words were extremely harsh, even for Chad, and it finally turned the arrogant prince's smug smirk into a look of true anger, hurt and almost righteous indignation.

"Listen here, Kingy," he began, finally getting a chance to speak. "I've lived in your shadow my whole life, and now I'm being shoved even further down the line by a bunch of savage ingrates who dare to come up in here and take our land, our jobs, our lives and our homes! This was our space first! And if you think I'm gonna take it lying down, just welcoming these reckless monsters into what is rightfully ours, then you're dead wrong! I'm only trying to restore what was mine! These villains have no place amongst our kind! They got what they deserved and if they wanted better, they should've behaved and played it fair! We shouldn't be giving them free passes into the paradise that we all worked so hard to build! That's not fair and that's not right!"

"But none of this was rightfully yours!" Mal cried. "This was passed down to you by your parents, and it was something they built in the name of love, peace, justice and equality. How can they claim to uphold these beliefs if they become selective as to who gets to enjoy the benefits of having such beliefs? How can your parents, who built these good institutions, continue to claim their heroism if they act villainous towards the villains?! These villains are your kind! They are your people. And this land belongs to us all! We promised forgiveness and protection to all!"

"No, Mal, you promised them those things! I didn't promise them anything!" Chad snarled. "And even if I did, I was promising to forgive those who were willing to ask for it, not reckless, heartless, heathens with concern only for themselves and repentance to be seen!" he cried.

"They aren't the heartless ones here, Chad," Ben said, voice suddenly soft as snow and twice as deadly. "You are," then he drew his sword.

The battle carried on for the whole day and night and Maleficent was lost in the fray, hardly able to tell friend from foe in the long, drawn-out and dramatic battle that ensued.

"Where's Mal?" Maleficent had cried sometime during the fight. Even in the heat of war, a mother's love sung from Maleficent's body, and she thirsted to know what had become of her child. Mal had never seemed like a fighter, but then again, Mal had never seemed like a lot of things and she had disproven every single one of them. Now Maleficent could only hope that she was ok. Through the smoke, the screaming, the chaos, the death, destruction and despair, Maleficent continued to fight. The scourge swallowed up all of Auradon and destroyed the castle and school both.

But as the battle came to a close towards that midnight, Maleficent realized that she should've hoped she would be ok instead of only thinking about Mal. Chad had tried to sneak off some time during the earlier part of the night when he realized his side was about to lose. Maleficent went after him personally while the others stayed back, fighting each other just like they had for the entire day before this.

"Where do you think you're going?!" the evil fairy cried. Chad gave a shriek of terror and he jumped upon hearing Maleficent's voice.

"You!" he squealed in fear and fury as she appeared to his fleeing form, emerging from the shadows.

"Me," Maleficent answered coldly.

"You are the whole reason any of this started!" Chad drew his sword, terror melting back into bitterness, indignation and hurt.

"How so?" the evil fairy drew her wand. "I don't recall insisting upon returning villains to the Isle of the Lost!"

"If you hadn't sent Mal here, we would still be in peace!" Chad cried.

"No, you would still be in peace. My people would've still been suffering. Besides, I didn't send Mal here. Ben did," Maleficent countered. This time, instead of replying with words, Chad replied with actions and lunged at Maleficent, sword extended, but he was no match for an evil witch with decades and decades of combat experience...

Soon enough, Chad had chosen flight over fight again, but as before, Maleficent wasn't just going to let him go freely. Instead, she hunted him down until they found themselves back at the Isle of the Lost.

"Come on Chad! This is my territory! You think you can beat me at my own game?!" the fairy scoffed as she turned into a dragon, looping around the desolate landscape in search of that pathetic, pusillanimous prince.

At last, Maleficent found her quarry. He was running to the tower Maleficent had lived years ago. Maleficent glowered and returned to human form, running up the stairs and into the tower after him. She got there just in time to see Chad messing around with some magic trinket from Jafar's junkshop of stolen goods. When Maleficent saw this, her rage turned to fear.

"Put those down, boy!" she ordered. "You don't know what power they hold!" and she was right. Even she didn't know what half the objects did. Maybe once upon a time, those objects might've been nothing more than shiny pieces of trash, but with the ensuing battle in Auradon, the anti-magic shield around the Isles has been removed again and all of those objects that Jafar had collected over the years were starting to regain some of their... darker properties. Maleficent already knew where this was going, even if she didn't know exactly what each object was capable of.

"Put those down!" she repeated, but Chad only ignored her. Although he also knew the dangers of tampering with unknown, unstable magical items, he didn't care anymore. Instead, he shoved his hand into Jafar's bag of treasures and, at one point, while riffling through the objects in attempt to find something useful, he wound up grabbing and expelling a black cauldron from the pile. The moment he touched it, though, even though he was quick to discard it afterwards, the cauldron suddenly filled up with a thick black liquid that began boiling at once. The liquid spread out into a perfect circle on the floor before defying gravity and rising upward, then morphing together in a vaguely humanoid shape. All the while, the liquid made a bubbling noise loud enough to finally distract Chad from his vicious search and when he turned around to see what he had done by touching that black cauldron, even he began to finally panic.

"Uh oh!" he murmured, voicing Maleficent's sentiments perfectly, but it was too late. The damage had been done...

Suddenly, right as the humanoid took its final form, a large explosion sent Chad flying out a nearby window and Maleficent herself went flying into a wall. Maleficent recovered quickly despite the violent impact with the cold, hard wall, and she managed to see the black, gooey human grow into a shape more demonic as it charged straight through the entire front half of her tower, smashing the wall like it was paper and soaring across the starlit sky and towards Auradon. Great.

Maleficent let out a roar of rage as she morphed into her own demon once more, a dragon. Then she went flying off to Auradon right after the demon, with every intention of beating the monster before it caused too much harm to the already frazzled kingdom. During her flight to Auradon, Chad's fate didn't even cross Maleficent' s mind once. But if it had, she would've returned to see the prince lying stunned in a dump below the window. He was alive, but very bruised, both in body and ego.

When Maleficent returned to Auradon, she got there in time to see the strange demon from the Black Cauldron ravaging the remains of the castle of Auradon. It had been something Maleficent had wanted to do herself for so long, but seeing it happen again made her angry.

"Back off!" she roared and flew at the demon, clouting him hard with her whip-like tail. The demon had just turned around to repay the blow when he paused and looked down. Maleficent did likewise and was horrified to see scores of humans looking up at them. Of course the moment this evil demon appeared would be the moment Auradon would've decided to celebrate its victory! And that was when the very last battle began.

The sun was rising in the distance by the time this last battle ended. The heroes of Auradon had adapted quickly to their newest adversity and some brave souls even ventured to the Isle of the Lost with the intent of rallying more troops. Even though all of them were exhausted from just finishing up a battle against each other, heroes were already reassembling and as Maleficent watched some of them head to the Isles, she silently bade them good luck. She, herself, hadn't seen any other soul there when she went chasing after Chad, but she could still hope that these heroes of Auradon would somehow find some other villains who would be willing to come out and defeat this last demon.

This really could prove a great common enemy between the heroes and villains, but Maleficent knew from experience how stubborn villains could be, even when confronted by their own kind. But at the moment, Maleficent was busy trying to stop the monster and evade the arrows of Auradon. She figured they thought she called the monster and, naturally, they were trying to kill her.

"Why me?" she growled to herself, cursing her bad luck. But the sight of Mal looking up at her with unreadable eyes urged Maleficent to keep fighting no matter what. A mother's love could be swayed by a daughter, no matter how stubborn it was originally thought to be.

Finally, though, something turned the battle in Auradon's favor. Maleficent knew from the start that no single magic object on its own would ever be strong enough to beat this enemy from the Black Cauldron. Even Fairy Godmother's own wand had been only moderately helpful in the long run. Because of that, Maleficent had spent most of the battle trying to find multiple sources of energy and magic to help her cause.

"I need something more powerful than magic to defeat this guy," Maleficent decided, at last, finally giving up the dragon form and going back into a human. Maleficent wracked her brains for something and finally, the most offensive, ironic, and truthful answer flashed through her mind. Love. Nothing was stronger than that. But seriously? Fate was asking an evil fairy to deliver upon this little truth? But then Maleficent thought back to the end of Mal's first year here at Auradon.

"Didn't you ever think to ask what I want?" the girl's voice echoed in Maleficent's head.

"Please, mom, I know you've been hurting, but so have I!"

"Let me show you that love is really amazing!"

"It's just you and me, mother,"

"She shrunk to the size of the love in her heart,"

"Careful! That's my mom!"

"There is no room in your life for love!"

"Evil power is as good as none when four hearts become one!"

Maleficent was dimly aware of seeing Mal from her peripheral vision, yet she seemed to be cloaked in green and she seemed to be wearing a mix of armor and a coronation dress from years ago. Maleficent didn't get why this was happening, but she didn't care anymore at the moment, because a mother's love defied all things, including logic. All she knew was that this demon had decided to bear down on Mal and her most loyal friends. Her friends. The people that had protected Mal better than Maleficent ever had. Maleficent's eyes widened in horror and a silent scream tore from her throat. A bolt of green energy flew from her old wooden wand long enough to distract the demon and allow the youngsters to escape.

Maleficent stood defiant as the demon turned angrily on her. When it sensed her lack of fear, it grew amused and charged towards her.

"If it means protecting Mal, so be it," Maleficent whispered as the demon readied to strike her down. "It's just you and me, daughter," she added. "I'm sorry it took so long. But I love you. I really do. A mother's love cannot lie,"

Then as she felt the demon strike, right as she felt like she was being burnt up and torn apart all at once, Maleficent cried out once. "Evil power is as good as none when pure hearts become one!" then she fell lifeless to the floor. Had Maleficent stayed awake a little longer though, she would've seen the demon die too. A mother's love could conquer all things and, certain as the sun rising in the east, it had conquered again.

When the demon was vanished, everybody in Auradon could only stare up at the place where it once had been ravishing the castle just because its death had been so sudden. Only one solider of the Auradon army had any insight as to what had happened.

"Mother," Mal gasped softly to herself and she went racing towards the smoking castle where the demon had last been seen. She ignored her friends' voices as they called for her to come back. She couldn't hear them over the pounding of her own heart. Instead, she ran into the ruined building, heedless of anything other than the nagging feeling that something was very wrong. Sure enough, right there before the royal throne, Maleficent lay on her back, spread-eagled, with her now-empty green eyes staring listlessly up at the ceiling. So Mal was right then. All along, it had been her mother to blame for this. And Mal had so hoped that she would change…

Mal was dimly aware of other people eventually coming to comfort her. It was not her beating heart that drowned out their words, though, it was her own sobs of pain and misery. Her mom was dead, killed by her own folly and wickedness, lying in the destruction that she had created. So, after all this time, there had been no hope. No change. No improvement. No redemption. Just lies and revenge. All along, her mother had been evil. She'd summoned this demon in one final attempt to secure Auradon's power for herself. But now she was dead, having died exactly the way that she had lived: trying to fulfill yet another evil plot...

Mal could only stare hollowly down at Maleficent's lifeless form, heart aching. Oh how she had longed for her own mother to have reformed in the same way her friends' parents all had! But it seemed that her wish had been all in vain even from the start! Maleficent had died as she lived: rotten to the core. All along, the crown was all she wanted, but now, her evil schemes were over forever. Mal had no idea what to feel.

"Mal," Mal finally heard one voice over the many others that surrounded her body and mind. Fairy Godmother. Mal turned her red, wet eyes to the source of the sound. "If you would like, I could show you how it happened," she offered gently. It seemed like a terrible thing to offer, but Mal agreed. It seemed that, somehow, Fairy Godmother knew just what Mal wanted, even when those desires seemed obscure to even Mal herself. Seeing exactly how Maleficent had been killed would be a horrible thing to watch, but at least it would give Mal some closure.

"Ok," she finally answered with words, looking up at Fairy Godmother with complete and utter trust. She had no idea what the old lady was planning, or how she could possibly grant Mal the power to watch Maleficent's death scene unfold, but she trusted that the woman would have a way, and that that way would be good, and gentle, and necessary for whatever it was that Mal needed.

"Excellent," Fairy Godmother's voice was soft, pitying.

She lowered her wand to touch Mal's head, but right before any spell could be cast, Mal's three oldest, closest friends arrived on the scene.

"We'll go with you," they offered. Mal was reluctant at first, not wanting to let them see something that might sway their opinion of her, but they each vowed on their lives that nothing would ever make them hate her. No matter what they would see in Maleficent's head as she died, they would never ever associate Mal with her.

"Ok," Mal finally agreed and, together, Fairy Godmother, Mal, and friends delved into Maleficent's memories to see how she really died.

By the time they came out of the memories, Mal was hysterical. She had come to realize that she and all the others had gotten it all wrong. Maleficent hadn't been trying to take over the castle! She'd been trying to save it! She hadn't summoned that black demon! She had been trying to kill it before it could cause too much damage to Auradon! And all along, Mal and the others had assumed the worst! They hadn't realized that, all along, Maleficent had been on their side! And now, to think that Maleficent had died with the entire kingdom hating her, was almost unbearable for Mal to imagine. Fairy Godmother, however, was elated.

"So she learned to love!" the old woman cried. "With that, there is still hope!" and then she zoomed off before anybody could ask what she meant. A month later, they had their answer. Like Fairy Godmother had said, and like everyone knew, love could conquer all. And it seemed that such a clause was still in effect, even when death was involved...

Suffice to say, Maleficent had been deeply surprised to wake up and find herself in bed, surrounded by hero and villain alike.

"What happened? Why am I here?!" Maleficent growled, rubbing her aching horns.

"We were able to save you," Fairy Godmother answered.

"From what?" snarled Maleficent, on guard at once. That face was not the one she first expected to see when waking up.

"From the beast of the Black Cauldron," said Aurora, then it all came back to Maleficent and she realized at once where she was.

"So you're all safe then?" she asked, finally taking in the faces of all those who surrounded her. It was the royal family, Aurora's family, the three other villains Maleficent had bunked with whilst on the Isle of the Lost, and their children were with them. They all nodded.

"But where's Mal?" Maleficent asked, noting that her daughter was absent from the lineup.

"She's outside," Evil Queen said.

"Waiting for you to wake up," Jafar clarified and Cruella nodded at Maleficent over his head.

"She was too hysterical to stay," Phillip explained, seeing Maleficent's confused look. For a moment, she wondered if he had come to forgive her for killing his father all those years ago. He certainly didn't seem angry, but now really wasn't the time to ask...

"But we can bring her in now," offered Audrey and Maleficent nodded anxiously.

"I'd like to see her again," the fairy confessed, but she was twiddling her fingers in a way that conveyed the opposite desire.

"Don't worry, she's not mad at you in any way," Adam promised, seeing Maleficent's worry, and Belle nodded in agreement.

"She's been worried sick, actually," the ex-queen of Auradon told the ex-leader of the Isle of the Lost.

"Really?" Maleficent was genuinely surprised but, before anyone could answer, Ben had turned to the hospital door to shout.

"Hey Mal! Get in here! Your mom's up!" then, slowly but surely, the door was pushed open...

While the others exited the hospital room politely, Mal was busy sobbing into Maleficent's shoulder.

"Oh Mom! I'm so glad you're ok!" she wept and wept and wept. Maleficent was very uncomfortable. She felt touched, embarrassed, and ashamed all at once as Mal continued to cling to her, sobbing out her relief. At last, however, Maleficent had had enough.

"But why?" she asked finally. "Why do you care? I'm just a monster! How could you possibly have been-?" she began..

"No you're not!" Mal cried. Then she explained to Maleficent how she and her friends had all seen the truth behind the fairy's seemingly-evil actions and then her subsequent sacrifice to the demon to save Auradon. Finally, then, Mal confessed to having seen, in those memories, how much Maleficent really loved her. This was the part that made her the most choked up of all.

"I love you," Mal admitted finally, once the story was over, eyes brimming with unshed tears. Maleficent felt her own heart melt and finally, finally she gave Mal a true smile and a warm hug in return.

"I love you too," she confessed and she meant it. She really did. Oh, after so long it felt so good to say those words again!

But the story was far from over. Instead, proper repairs were made across the land, and all mysterious and magical objects were disposed of at once, destroyed in a massive fire never to be recovered again. The Black Cauldron was among the first of these objects to be annihilated, everything else following after into the ashes and dust. After the event with the Black Cauldron, nobody minded much. Not even Jafar, although his entire livelihood had just been set alight. Instead, he decided that he might try to go into banking instead...

As for Chad? Well. His body was eventually rescued from the dump in which it was lying and, after he had been fully patched up, he was sent back to work in repairs for the Isle of Lost until he learned some humility, and all of those who had followed him shared a similar fate. Each of them was fixed up, but then sent to help the Isles fix up as well. Then, on the flip side, any villain who had been wrongfully jailed or hurt or who had helped in the last battle against the demon were welcomed into Auradon, as decreed by Ben. Those who had been wrongfully attacked and those who had faithfully served Auradon received official pardons for their past sins. They had to take it slow, but nobody minded much anymore. Everyone was just relieved that the ceaseless fighting was finally done.

But then, on a more personal note, when graduation rolled around, Mal and friends finished at the top of their class.

"What'll we do next?" the purple-haired girl asked as they left the high school one last time.

"College?" Evie suggested. She had been the smartest of them all, so of course she would be the one to suggest continuing her education.

"Yeah, I swear I'm gonna try out for every sport the college has to offer!" Jay answered eagerly.

"I'm thinking about opening a vet," said Carlos, still coddling the Auradon Prep mascot. "So I'll definitely need the extra education."

"Well you know me," Ben joked. "As king, I have to go to college!"

"And you'll love it!" Ben's parents called out from the side. The group laughed in reply.

At the same time, the ex-villains' parents were having a similar chat.

"I'm going to open a beauty parlor here now that the kingdom has granted me some funding!" Evil Queen exclaimed.

"I'm going to open a little school store!" cried Jafar, a greedy glint in his eye told the other three that his plan would probably fail, but they didn't have the heart to tell him this. Not after his banking job had failed so miserably. Instead, Cruella spoke up next.

"Perhaps I can join Evil Queen in the beauty industry. Or I'll just model new fur coats," she said. "Fake furs though!"

"What about you, Maleficent?" a new, non-villain voice asked. It was Fairy Godmother. She had overheard their chatter and decided to help them in trying to achieve their dreams, even though those dreams might not pan out the way they'd planned. It was just nice to see them planning to change the world for the better instead of for worse.

"Doesn't matter to me," Maleficent shrugged and the others looked awed by this remark. Didn't matter? But Maleficent always cared! What on earth did she mean when she said it didn't matter to her? Wasn't Maleficent the greatest schemer of all time? Wasn't planning and plotting one of her biggest and most defining features? What did she mean she no longer cared?!

"Maybe I'll stay here in Auradon. Maybe I'll go back to the Isle of the Lost and live my life in peaceful solitude," she shrugged again, ignoring the still-baffled looks she was receiving from her other ex-villain friends and Fairy Godmother. Ever since the reparations had begun, the Isle had become a proper jail. That is, only real and convicted crooks lived there, and this time, the crooks were looked after carefully. It was no longer a mere dumping ground for anyone Auradon disagreed with. Nor were children born on the island forced to grow up there. Or at least, they weren't forced to grow up in such squalid conditions as the previous generations had been forced to endure. For that, Maleficent considered rooming there again to be a viable plan. Her tower had been cleaned up too, after all.

"It doesn't really matter to me," she repeated and she would say no more about the topic.

But, internally, it did matter. It mattered a whole lot. Ever since the whole Black Cauldron incident, Maleficent had gotten closer to her daughter every day and now her daughter was leaving again. Maleficent wanted to keep the girl, but she understood that such a desire was selfish. But truly, without Mal, Maleficent wasn't sure what she'd do...

"You'll come with me to college!" Mal insisted, during a post-graduation party that Maleficent had been personally invited to attend.

"How? I think a horned monster isn't exactly an ideal student," Maleficent deadpanned.

"First off, you aren't a monster," Mal said firmly and Maleficent couldn't fight a small smile at her daughter. She was so glad they'd reconciled at last. "Second off, you're not coming as a human. You're coming as a lizard," Mal finished.

"You're kidding?" Maleficent asked with a snort.

"Only if you say no," answered Mal, arms crossed with a frank expression.

"You've got to be kidding," Maleficent repeated, but Mal only shook her head.

The very next fall, a small group of 20-year-olds were walking towards Auradon University. One of the five in that group had a glass tank in her arms and, inside that tank, was a tiny black lizard. Resting on top of the lid of the tank was a black bird, who cawed happily down at the lizard within. She flickered her tongue back up at him in a voiceless reply.

"I love you, Mom," Mal whispered as she sat the tank by her new bed in her new dorm.

"I love you too," Maleficent replied, this new lizard spell granting her the power to speak. Mal chuckled before skipping off to join her friends in orientation, leaving Maleficent to rest in her tank and smile. Yes, she'd agreed to join Mal in college as a lizard, but why not? It wasn't like she had anything better to do with her life, and Mal had asked her along after all. So she'd said yes. So what? It was all just a mother's love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This second part I'd had written out for a long time, this is just the first time I ever polished it up enough to post. To recap, it's basically a sequel where Maleficent remains as Mal's pet lizard for years until their final year at Auradon Prep when the whole issue of the villain kids being students in Auradon resurfaces, this time leading to a more violent social movement (I really didn't intend for it to get so borderline Immigration Issue, but it did, so what can I say?). So the bulk of this second half of the story is set in Mal's senior year, the whole year being plagued with these political tensions that Maleficent finally dips her hand into after concern for Mal's safety restores her human form to her. I know it's a bit rushed and chunky, but I never planned on making it a full, multi-chapter tale. Just know that, weird and serious as it is, it's still supposed to be a Glinda-Maleficent crossover fic at its core. 
> 
> If anything didn't make sense, either in this part or the last, please ask! I'd be happy to clarify!
> 
> Also, sidenote, since I'd written this story back when the first movie was the only one out, this story completely ignores the events of the sequel film. So please don't complain about canon inaccuracies. This fic is based solely on the first Descendants film.


End file.
